13 replies to this topic

[Coopershawk]

I'm wondering how effective open houses are...we had 2 in our complex this weekend with a bit of traffic. Do they work?

[lanforod]

I'm wondering how effective open houses are...we had 2 in our complex this weekend with a bit of traffic. Do they work?

I bought my place after seeing it in an open house. They totally work, why would realtors keep doing them otherwise?

[G-Man]

Because they can get new clients. Most open houses do not sell the house.

[Redd42]

Because they can get new clients. Most houses do not sell the house.

 

Our resident realtor might say otherwise, but I find that Realtors at open houses these days are not making any effort to get new clients. 15 years ago when I bought my first property, yes, every time I went to a open house, one of the first things the hosting realtor would say is "are you working with anyone"? Now, I find as soon as they find out the property they are showing is not the one for me, I just get ignored. They are there to sell that property and since I'm now not interested in it after seeing it, they just staring at their smart phones if there are no other people viewing the property. And at the moment I am actively seeking a property in the $650,000 and up category. You think they might be interested in that kind of potential buyer.

[MarkoJ]

These are the latest statistics on open houses...

 

 

When I go to listing presentations on properties purchased in the last 10 years I always ask the sellers, "how did you find the property when you purchased," and occasionally (as 1 in 50) someone will reply with "we found it at an open house." I'll follow that up with a question, "would you have booked a private showing if there was no open house?" and more than 50% of those 1 in 50 will reply with, "yes."  In conclusion, I do not find open houses to be an effective tool in selling a home.

 

Why do we see so many open houses every weekend?

 

i/ An opportunity for REALTORS® to source new clients whether it be buyers or potential sellers in the neighbourhood.

 

ii/ The seller asks for the REALTOR® to do open houses.

 

Why do I personally do open houses?

 

i/ The seller asks for me to do an open house (by far the #1 reason).

 

ii/ On the rare occasion if I know a property will be super-hot and I anticipate multiple offers I'll list it on a Thursday, have an open houses Saturday or Sunday to allow plenty of time for people to come through and we'll look at offers Monday evening.  This happens maybe once a year in this market.

 

iii/ If I know a property won't be hot but based on the pictures and criteria it will have a lot of showing requests which will be an inconvenience to the seller I'll do an open house to reduce the amount of showings (potential buyers can come to the open house at once versus each individually booking a showing). 

[Coopershawk]

As usual Marko, an excellent response! Thanks.

 

These are the latest statistics on open houses...

 

 

When I go to listing presentations on properties purchased in the last 10 years I always ask the sellers, "how did you find the property when you purchased," and occasionally (as 1 in 50) someone will reply with "we found it at an open house." I'll follow that up with a question, "would you have booked a private showing if there was no open house?" and more than 50% of those 1 in 50 will reply with, "yes."  In conclusion, I do not find open houses to be an effective tool in selling a home.

 

 

Why do we see so many open houses every weekend?

 

 

i/ An opportunity for REALTORS® to source new clients whether it be buyers or potential sellers in the neighbourhood.

 

 

ii/ The seller asks for the REALTOR® to do open houses.

 

 

Why do I personally do open houses?

 

 

i/ The seller asks for me to do an open house (by far the #1 reason).

 

 

ii/ On the rare occasion if I know a property will be super-hot and I anticipate multiple offers I'll list it on a Thursday, have an open houses Saturday or Sunday to allow plenty of time for people to come through and we'll look at offers Monday evening.  This happens maybe once a year in this market.

 

 

 

iii/ If I know a property won't be hot but based on the pictures and criteria it will have a lot of showing requests which will be an inconvenience to the seller I'll do an open house to reduce the amount of showings (potential buyers can come to the open house at once versus each individually booking a showing). 

[MarkoJ]

Our resident realtor might say otherwise, but I find that Realtors at open houses these days are not making any effort to get new clients. 15 years ago when I bought my first property, yes, every time I went to a open house, one of the first things the hosting realtor would say is "are you working with anyone"? Now, I find as soon as they find out the property they are showing is not the one for me, I just get ignored. They are there to sell that property and since I'm now not interested in it after seeing it, they just staring at their smart phones if there are no other people viewing the property. And at the moment I am actively seeking a property in the $650,000 and up category. You think they might be interested in that kind of potential buyer.

 

I go out of my way not to pick up new clients at open houses.  I also don't barage people with sales tactics; 95% of the time I sit behind a laptop, I introduce myself when people arrive and I let them know they are free to look around and to ask me any questions.

 

I treat people the way I like to be treated.  The best car salesperson I had a few years ago was at Campus Honda.  I showed up and told him I wanted to test drive a 2012 4 door Civic Si and immediately he guaged that that I did not need him to answer questions (at that point I had already watched 10 youtube reviews and I knew all the strenghts and weakness to that particular model, etc.).  He give me the keys to the car, I went out and test drove it on my own, I came back, I told him I had already researched the lease rates on various websites and he got me what I wanted without any BS and I drove off with a new car.

 

People coming through open houses are also important to guage.  There is no point going into a sales pitch about the new roof, drain tiles, and heatpump when the majority of people coming through an open house are tire kickers, so might as well leave them in peace.  If a serious buyer has a question he or she is more than welcome to ask me and I try to be prepared to answer those questions.

 

Why do I avoid pick up new clients at open houses?  I can't qualify them the way I would like to.  When I started 4 years ago I use to do so but now that I have more business than I know what to do with the quality of the buyer becomes more important.  I know if someone is coming in touch with me accross my website they've read up on my cash back to buyer business model, they know they have to be qualified to work with me, they've probably watched some of my youtube videos and get a sense of what I am all about, etc., and usually this leads to a positive working relationship.  Referrals are also great as the individual making the referal to their family member or friend has probably already explained how I run my business model.  

 

Redd42, you sound like a serious buyer, but the majority of open house visitors, from my personal experiences, are not.  A lot of them haven't even know the amount they are qualified for and with my business model I don't have time to show someone properties and then have an offer collapse on financing.

Edited by MarkoJ, 07 July 2014 - 12:57 PM.

[LocalMom]

We went through an open house - mostly because I just loved the look of these two side-by-side properties and they each had 4 bedrooms up, which is what we need/want - and while we weren't super serious about these particular properties - the realtor showing them impressed us SO much, that we are hoping to use him whenever we do our next transaction (which is NOT planned, so could be years and years off).

 

So while I 'get' that the open house may not hasten the sale of the property, it is a great way for people to judge a realtor and his/her usefulness, demeanour, etc.

 

As well - I know quite a few people that have asks friends to go through their own open house to see what their realtor says/does not say, behaves, etc. - and to report back to them... and a few realtors have been fired.

[Redd42]

Funny thing about the realtors at open houses. 15 years ago I was looking at $100K condos, and yes needed to mortgage most of it. Then realtors were asking for my business. Now, I am looking at, as I said, $650,000 and up properties, and if it is under $700K, I am paying cash. No need to "qualify". And realtors ignore me.

 

I understand as Marko said that many folks at open houses, or even having realtors show them properties, can't really afford what they are looking at. But I am a mature individual. With a few questions, a realtor could find out I don't need to "qualify".

 

Another funny thing. I saw bus side ads for the one of the realtors that ignored me at an open house. He had a very lucrative potential client in front of him but paid money to put ads on the sides of buses!

[MarkoJ]

I guess it all depends on personal taste.  If I was a buyer attending open houses the last thing I would want is every REALTOR® trying to solicit my business.

[lanforod]

I guess it all depends on personal taste. If I was a buyer attending open houses the last thing I would want is every REALTOR® trying to solicit my business.

Especially if you already have a Realtor working for you.

[Chef-eth]

As we are presently from out of province, but beginning to search the CRD for a retirement home (very long lead time, but we've been away for a while and we want to be very informed as this will be the last home we ever purchase) we visited a couple of Open Houses recently. Among many things, we were interested in our assessment of build quality, and to that end we are curious to know who the builders of the properties were. I am chagrined to have to report that the agents were somewhat lackluster in their knowledge. At the first home, the realtor didn't know, stated this fact, then took a guess. (?) The second time was quite comical: after a long setup to explain why the property was unoccupied at present: "... the owner travels extensively, doesn't spend much time here" (sounded convincing at first, the home was definitely in near new condition, despite being 4 years old) it was revealed the the owner lived on the same street in another house! I must admit we were a little uneasy...  and when asked about the remainder of the 2/5/10 warranty things got downright evasive. (?)

 

A day later, Mr Mustsell Hardsell scared the living daylights out of us with a manic non-stop monologue... and a little later the same day it was the house presenter who was presenting... well, herself really with a repetitious travelogue of all the places she'd lived, as if that qualified her to be an expert on Victoria... I would like to shake hands with her surgeon. For a moment there I thought I was at a Vegas car show.

 

As Mr Jura most correctly suggests, an Open House is not the place to find a realtor and at present we definitely should be categorized as "tire kickers". We telegraphed this to all our hosts so as to not be disingenuous. However, one day we'll be the real McCoy, dropping a significant amount of our life savings into a purchase. With this in mind, the agent's standard of knowledge and frankness will be an asset to an experience we are excited about - though it is a few years away.

[MarkoJ]

Among many things, we were interested in our assessment of build quality, and to that end we are curious to know who the builders of the properties were. 

 

Were you looking at condos or single family homes? In Victoria there aren't really any large spec home builders outside of the lower-end subdivisions.  The single family home builders in Victoria with big names and prizes behind their names usually get there by building custom homes.  I've seen big name builders put out some crappy spec homes.  I've also seen non-name hard working Joe that builds a house a year put out a great product.

 

Assessment of qualify on single family homes in Victoria is best done on a home by home basis.  In the condo market you can draw a bit upon the builder. For example, it is fairly safe to assume Bosa and Concert build solid condos.

Edited by MarkoJ, 10 October 2014 - 06:38 AM.

[lanforod]

Were you looking at condos or single family homes? In Victoria there aren't really any large spec home builders outside of the lower-end subdivisions.  The single family home builders in Victoria with big names and prizes behind their names usually get there by building custom homes.  I've seen big name builders put out some crappy spec homes.  I've also seen non-name hard working Joe that builds a house a year put out a great product.

 

Assessment of qualify on single family homes in Victoria is best done on a home by home basis.  In the condo market you can draw a bit upon the builder. For example, it is fairly safe to assume Bosa and Concert build solid condos.

A good home inspector will go a long way in advising on build quality, though a 4 year old house that has rarely been lived in may not have all the wrinkles of a new home smoothed out yet.